Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (2015). Oscar-nominated film directed by Israeli-American Evgeny. Watch on Netflix.

Last week I watched this film on the Maidan Protests. This documentary is a mesmerizing street view of 4 months of protests (2013-2014) against the Russian leaning Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. This incident led to a Russian military intervention through the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and the creation of the self-proclaimed breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk. This sparked the Donbas War, and culminated with Russia initiating the full-scale invasion of the country today in 2022.

Mariupolis 2. 2022. Mantas Kvaderavičius. Won Cannes Film Festival prize. Not yet available for viewing.

This documentary made by Lithuanian director Mantas Kvaderavičius won the special Cannes Film Festival prize of the Golden Eye. The director was killed on April 2, while trying to escape Mariupol. The film is about the life in Mariupol during the invasion. The film was finished by the director's wife Anna, as Kvaderavičius hadn’t yet finished.

This film is a follow-up to Kvedaravicius’ 2016 documenary, Mariupolis, which followed the lives of everyday citizens in Mariupol as the threat of war with Russia escalated. Kvedaravicius returned to Mariupol this year to document Russia’s invasion of the country. The city of Mariupol has been completely destroyed by the Russian military.

Servant of the People. Starring Volodymyr Zelensky, today’s President of Ukraine. 2015. Watch on Netflix.

This is a light comedy, a nice change from the heavier films listed. I watch episodes from this show as a break from the bad news streaming out of eastern Ukraine. The experience is a bit surreal. In the show you can get a view of a bit of normal life in Ukrainian homes and on the streets of Kyiv before the War. It is hard to believe that many of those streets and buildings featured in the film are today in rubble after 2 months of bombings from the Russians. And, secondly, it is also hard to believe that the actor who plays the President is now the real live Ukrainian President, hiding in bunkers, addressing the United Nations asking for help, walking with the troops, consoling the injured and the families of the dead. Zelensky has become a dynamic hero to Ukraine. A hero to the world.